MidCentury Matcha Mama
Jack and the Beanstalk first birthday party.
I knew I wanted to have my son's first birthday party be Jack and the Beanstalk themed almost immediately upon the early stages of planning. I had done all of his monthly baby pictures "Jack" themed up until this point, and the well-known fairy tale fit perfectly. My decor and fare are both Pinterest-inspired and original. Feel free to use any ideas and enjoy my take!
-Elle
Dessert Table
_edited.jpg)
This table was set in our great room seen immediately when walking in the front door. The focal point of my decor, I needed it to be big and bold! Gated off by the baby playpen, I knew it would be a safe place to store and display desserts.
​
For the beanstalk, I used dollar pool noodles from Five Below. I painted six noodles three different shades of green to add dimension, twisted them together and fastened with green duct tape. I added leaves to conceal the tape, placed in a bucket with dumbells to weight them down and covered the bucket in green tissue paper. I then placed it on the table atop a gold table cloth.
​
I added white balloons for clouds atop the beanstalk and curled green ribbon to hang like vines. Finally, I placed a plastic axe I had leftover from Halloween to resemble where Jack chops the beanstalk in the story.
.jpg)
On the dessert table I made butterscotch fudge "golden" eggs along with plastic Easter eggs I spray painted gold. I made dipped pretzels with dark and neon green candy melts in different combinations and garnished some with gold and white sprinkles. For the smash cake I used a giant cupcake silicon mold and shaped it, then piped neon green rosettes.
.jpg)
Finally, for the "grown ups"cake I created a Vanilla Beanstalk cake. I used fresh vanilla beans to make a vanilla paste for the batter and the buttercream. I garnished with two whole vanilla beans and piped a beanstalk twisting up the front of the cake leading up to them. I made three 9 inch layers, and made an ombre dark green, neon green, and white frosting.
The Decor
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
I chose the party color palette to guide my decor buying and planning. I decided a dark green, neon green, yellow, gold, and white would be perfect to encompass all the decorations and items needed. This allowed me to find a variety of table cloths, balloons, plates, napkins, straws, and other items.
​
I found this highchair banner from Amazon that fit perfectly with my color scheme the additional mint green ribbon fit the "1" onesie and pants we picked out prior.
​
​
​
​
​
I used three other pool noodles for the picture beanstalk, and made cardstock leaves to display each month's "Jack" themed baby photo.
​
We made the invitations online and applied to cardstock cards from a kit I picked up at Michael's. The "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum Baby Jack is turning one!" phrase I saw online and fell in love with!
​
The party favors reused the phrase from the book, and I filled a small round bag shaped like a sack of beans with green and gold jelly beans, tied with curled green ribbon, and made cardstock leaves that say "magic beans." I also added small bags of Jack Links beef jerky.
​
The Food
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
I wanted to keep the appetizer and drink table light so that everyone would stay hungry! We had a Jack and Coke station along with a drink dispenser filled with water and sliced lemons and limes. (Color palette win!)
​
We offered edamame "mini beanstalks" with a garlic sriracha dipping sauce.
​
I then placed Tostitos Hint of Lime chips and my homemade guac (again, color palette!)
​
I also hat a carafe of tropical iced tea and an ice bucket on the table. Finally, I decorated with gold coins like in the story, had an open sack of gold coins and Jack's plastic cow toy "for sale" on the table.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
For dinner we served my husband's famous (in our social circles at least) smoked baby back ribs. It gave us the feeling of eating like a giant!
​
I made my special mac and cheese that I renamed "Jack and cheese" for the occasion.
​
I made Texas Roadhouse copycat rolls and cinnamon honey butter along with a whipped butter.
​
Next were the tequila beans (Inspired by the fabulous central coast eatery AJ Spurs, this is the closest I've come to recreating them recipe here LINK!) to be enjoyed with a garlic chipotle salsa.
​
Finally, we served salad with homemade sourdough croutons, and fruit.
.jpg)
Honorable Mention:
​
I searched high and low for the perfect, age-appropriate Jack and the Beanstalk book. Many of the modern iterations of the tale omit the "fee-fi-fo-fum". Because it was such an important part of my party decor, I needed a book to actually use the phrase. This quickly became one of Jack's favorite books with the button sounds, and his grandparents had so much fun reading it to him at his party!
​
​
​